Psych2LKIT

Category: weight gain from antipsychotics

The doctors think I might have an autoimmune condition called Sjogren’s disease. It’s treatable, not curable. I set up an appointment with the only rheumatology practice in my county. I waited for a month. I went and discovered I was not on the books. Now, I must wait another month.

My eye doctor prescribed something not on my insurance plan. Paperwork must be pushed. Prior authorization. No biggie, right? Wrong. Turns out they don’t do those.

The only way they’d consider it, the doctor said, is if I walked in the form myself and helped them fill it out. I called my Part D drug plan and they won’t send me a blank prior auth form. Against Policy, they say. I asked one girl four different times if she could send me the form and she didn’t give me a yes or no answer, just prattled on until I asked for a supervisor. And then another. And another. My medical records are mine. I should be able to get them sent to me return receipt, I’ll pay for the extra postage. Just send the MF’er so I can get my meds.

I’m the customer. This is Monopoly of CVS, Silverscript Part D, CVS mail order, CVS Drugstores (Hello can anyone spell Monopoly?) but where they get all their power (and profit) is as pharmacy benefit managers, (PBM’S).

They are the middlemen between pharmacy and wholesalers; cutting backdoor deals to drive customers to their stores by offering lower prices. Lots of people fall for this. It doesn’t matter if you’re rarely ill or are only on one or two meds.

I’m not in that category. With increased privatization of Medicaid and more and more private for profit Medicare ‘Disadvantage’ plans that don’t cover my University of Miami and University of Florida neurologists, quality and choice are going out the window. The small pharmacies are being driven out because the private hmo’s can make the rules.

And they didn’t even have to go to a ‘for profit’ Keiser or Trump University to get screwed. Come to think of it, neither do we.

Isn’t it funny, I tag bipolar but life’s challenges go way beyond that, I’m finding. I want to stay healthy but it takes a lot of work with all these side effects and aging.

Lapidary: this is both a noun and adjective. Adjective…an engraver. Noun, something said that’s elegant, concise, deserves to be written in stone.

How about this one??? The innocent are haunted and the haunted are innocent? Where’s my headstone??? Bipolar Disorder a crowded field. If all I end up being is the poster girl for the grisly side effect of Tardive Dyskinesia and related challenges like Stigma, that’s more than enough for me, thanks for reading.

So…all the articles say…you can’t keep the weight off. Everyone in reality show “Biggest Loser” Gained it back. Diets don’t work. Are you Sure about that? Or are you just trying to sell a book or get an article published? I’m Allison Strong. Not only did I lose ….well, I’ll just ask you to read this article I wrote that posted today at bphope.com, Bipolar And Weight. Here’s the link:

All over this week’s news (May 4th-8th) it’s the sad fact that nearly every contestant from Reality TV show “The Big Loser”has regained their lost weight and then some. I’ve never seen hopelessness and defeat sell so much advertising.

The’experts’ now declare: “Dieting Doesn’t Work.”

Rrreeaaallllllyy.

Last week, it was low carb. Before that, it had to be low fat. Before that, we had to avoid butter and eat Crisco, with transfatty acids.. Then it was ‘Artificial sweeteners will kill you’..and so on.

Have they ever gotten it right? Ever wonder why the story keeps changing?

In 2010, I gained 60 lbs on a mandatory bipolar mood stabilizer, lost it, and have kept it off. No fancy program, or diet food. (And I’m still on that dastardly medication).

“Me, My Metabolism and the Market” is part one of an open ended series only on bphope.com.

This week’s news: Nearly every contestant from “The Big Loser” regained their lost weight and more.

The experts say : “Dieting Doesn’t Work.”

In 2010, Allison Strong lost the 60 lbs she’d gained on a new medication and kept it off. So far.

“Me, My Metabolism and the Market” is the beginning of Allison Strong’s bphope.com (bipolar hope) metabolic series as she pours over recent research and finds holistic ways to disprove the claims of leading nutritionists trying to sell books and articles.

Allison’s never been much for ‘experts,’ ‘authorities’ or the word ‘NO,’ to begin with.

One thing about Allison Strong….she refuses to disappear because she has more problems than we’re comfortable with.

She spoke out when………The one person whose job it was to listen tuned out her every word!

She’s been warned by her good friend T to stop being pushy but old habits die hard. (That’s why the therapy)!

She lives for clicks, shares, likes, nonlikes… Sadly, the primal, reflexive movement of your wrist is the yardstick she’s measured by …….well we all know about that.

Her Article about the deaf therapist is now on bphope.com’s facebook page. Will ya click to let her know she’s still alive? She’ll repay the favor and then some, even if she has to hunt you down! Not really.

I was reading the business section last night about a division of Kraft coming out with an alternative snack. The company has some exotic health food name but the product is coming after wheat thins with these crackers made with sweet potato or chickpea. If I hadn’t read it was Kraft I would not have known.

Then I read about a new product from Quaker, who is owned by Pepsi. They are developing an ‘experiential’ food for an imagined snacking experience, the mid morning snack. It’ll be all ‘healthy’ and stuff, you’d never guess Pepsi owned it.

Perception is everything when it comes to food. Like they say, you sea it, you eat it on the seafood diet.

If you have been following this blog for a while you might think I’m married to a life of battle against the ‘powers that be.’ Back when I was on Tumblr I posted a lot about my lighter side, jewelry making, pilates, and gourmet cooking, one of my passions. We have this store in town called Penn Dutch. They have the best, most highly trafficked (this makes for fresher fish because it’s always being replaced by new hauls) fish counter I’ve ever seen. Yesterday they had 9 Oz LobsterTails from South America, not Australia. They carry a Brazilian fish called Branzino that I’ve never heard of.

Yesterday I bought a fish native to here, South Florida, called Pompano. (pictured) it’s only 6.99 a pound, you purchase the whole fish and get two 6oz filets out of it. They filet it for you. What I do is buy coconut milk, fresh mint, and chili paste. I add more splenda to the mixture and heat it up. Then I put dissolved cornstarch in it and pour it over the fish and put it in the oven. I make steamed vegetables and rice, and the extra coconut milk sauce goes good over both. Mike my husband really likes this.

I had to stand at a fish counter with a number tag in my hand for 1/2 hour as this store is crowded. But that’s what makes the fish counter so fresh. Nothing sits there very long.

This link below is to a story on bphope.com (Bipolar Magazine’s digital community) about my BFF and I, she and I both have bipolar ….it would be great if you clicked and send me a nasty ass comment as to what you think….is it too….smarmy? sappy? or ‘Bicuriou?’

Some of you may remember that I sent letters to scientists researching the metabolic challenges from taking atypical antipsychotics. Guess what? They responded and put me in touch with others.

It just goes to show that people do care and will share the information. I am putting it all together with my own metabolic healing journey and doing a series of articles on metabolic healing, diabetes prevention and maintaining a healthy weight. The idea is that this can be addressed and needs to be addressed from all angles. Diet and exercise alone often doesn’t do the trick.

You can be slender and fit and still have metabolic fallout from atypical antipsychotics.In my case the benefits of the medicine outweigh the risks.